


A Tale of Two Ahsokas

by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Gen, Sort Of, Time Travel Fix-It, background Kanera, more like
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 13:42:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14403339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: All Ahsoka (either of them) wanted in life was to make it all better. Sometimes, especially when a Force Avatar can bend the rules, wishes can be pushed through. Maybe.





	A Tale of Two Ahsokas

On board the _Ghost_ , out of hyperspace and resting in the gravity well of an uninhabited moon, the woman known as Fulcrum had folded herself into a meditative position, grieving the latest losses and grateful that they had managed yet another narrow escape. Faces of the dead, known and unknown, flickered along the edge of her attention, making her swallow hard even in meditation. 

There had to be an end to this, somehow. There had to be. There _had_ to be something she could do to end this... but hadn't she been thinking that for half her life, now? 

No, she couldn't give in to the helpless feeling. There had to be something she could do, something she just hadn't thought of yet, to make the bloodshed end, to stop the Sith. 

+++ 

Staring up at a purple-shot greenish sky, awake for too long to even remember the name of the world, Commander Ahsoka Tano was folded into the meditation-pose she was so bad at on top of a lartie's wing as she tried to meditate -- but all that was really coming to her was the long Litany of her dead. 

Not as long as Rex's, or Skyguy's, but too long already. The grief in the camp wasn't overwhelming, not like sometimes -- still more than bad enough, though. Off to her right there were four brothers in a silent tangle, all that were left of two squads taken by surprise by commando droids. 

There had to be an end to this, somehow. There had to be. There _had_ to be something she could do to end this, even if she was just a padawan. 

So much pain and blood and death... for what? 

Jedi weren't supposed to want, but she wanted, more than anything, to find a way out of this. To save her _vod'e _.__

__+++_ _

__She had known many names, and had not always been perceived as a woman, or even humanoid. She had seen strife come and go, lost all she had, all she was, and yet, she remained._ _

__Her powers were limited, as she had given herself to this mortal form, slowly becoming one with her host, and one day -- well, one day things would change. It was the nature of existence._ _

__For now, though, her awareness was pulled at two points in time, separated by years for those who thought in linear paths, but bound together for her by a commonality. It was a point she had been waiting for, when the hearts and desires of her new selves would align completely, and she could try to undo that which threatened to destroy all._ _

__~Carry your memories, and bring your energy as you exchange the points of your life,~ she murmured in the hidden parts of their minds, the place she resided, before tweaking the Force to make the change occur._ _

__+++_ _

__The Force twisted and roiled and Fulcrum felt sounds and heard colors and other things she didn't want to think about. She tried to curl onto her side, hands reaching up for her montrals -- and there was nothing solid under her side! Her eyes shot open as she realized she was falling, tried to twist to land on her feet and failed at it, too disoriented to use the still-roiling Force. She hit the ground -- ground?! -- heavy, reality shimmering around her, and bit into her tongue to choke off the cry of pain her knee landing on her lek would normally have brought. The pain was enough, with everything else, to make her almost black out._ _

__There were sounds that tasted vibrantly green and blue and red as people in armor came running, at least three distinct presences. One felt sharp and militant, purposeful in his sentry duty. Another was grief-edged and shaking it away as concern rose. The third… the third was intelligence and cunning and energy all meshed with a desperate need to make people smile, to make them forget for just a moment where they were._ _

__"Sir… _sir?!_ "_ _

__"No way that's the Commander!"_ _

__"Same marks, but… big all around?"_ _

__The ring of plastoid on plastoid said that comment had been over a line in someone's eyes._ _

__Fulcrum whined softly, low in her throat, and tried to open her eyes again. It was hard, and tasting sound wasn't nice, but -- it felt, they felt..._ _

__She **knew** them. She knew them, she knew her _vod'e_ better than she knew herself, and closest, almost on her... She looked up, and it felt like her heart stopped. Curving bright blue tattoo along the right side of his shaved head and down over his eye, onto his cheek. Another on his jaw, sharp out-thrust pattern, and... _ _

__"Hardcase?" she asked, hearing everything she betrayed in the tone of her voice. Years of grief, of missing him, of raging against how he'd been lost... and her joy, her utter and complete joy at seeing him alive, all at once._ _

__"She knows you, vod," the grieving brother said, even as he backed up a step. "Should we get the general?"_ _

__Hardcase nodded, but he was transfixed by the woman. His heart said this was his commander, but logic said it couldn't be._ _

__"Force things?" he questioned aloud._ _

__Fulcrum started to nod, thought better of it, and reached her hands up for him -- she'd heard the other _vod_ , but she could not think about that -- hoping against hope that she would actually feel his hands touch hers. That it would be real, not just some bizarre shape of a vision she couldn't affect... " _Vod_?" she asked, hoping so much that it ached, now, where her heart had felt stopped a moment before. _ _

__Hardcase, ever a man of feelings, quickly gave her his hands, then dropped on his heels to crouch in front of her. "I'm real, Vod'ika...not so small though. It is you."_ _

__"I'm me," Fulcrum agreed. She felt him, really felt him, not a phantom... and she grabbed onto his hands hard -- he had his gauntlets on, she could do that -- as that he was real and alive seared along her nerves. She launched herself up, then, letting go of the gauntlets to latch her arms around shoulders and behind his neck._ _

__" _Vod_ ," she said again, low sharp cry of her relief and amazement. " _Ner vod_ \-- _ner aliit_ , _ner yaim_..." _ _

__The sentry backed off to his post while the other took off at a jog -- only to find his general along the path with a crease in his brow from discomfort._ _

__Anakin looked at the trooper in front of him, his head tilting to the side. "What is it."_ _

__"Sir, Commander was up on a lartie being Jedi," the trooper began. "Next thing, there was a sound of body in armor hitting ground. And when we investigated, there was a woman, right colors, but big? On the ground. Knows us. Looks like the Commander might in a couple of years, but… how?"_ _

__Hardcase responded to his Commander's pain and relief by hugging her back, rocking forward to better do so. "Aliit," he reassured, worried what all of this meant._ _

__She had real armor on, for parts of her!_ _

__"I don't know," Anakin replied, low -- he hated to admit to that, but he couldn't avoid it right now, either. "I felt something change, and the Force is a mess, but... Take me there."_ _

__Fulcrum burrowed against her Hardcase, her troublemaker and bright spirit and lost one, holding on tightly, her forehead against his cheek and jaw. " _Elek_ ," she breathed, " _elek._ Shh... don't worry, it's okay..." _ _

__The vod escorted his General back, uneasy to see the senior trooper wrapped around the not-quite-stranger._ _

__Hardcase felt and heard the rolling thunder presence of his general, slowly moving to let go of his Commander. She was so shocked, but he knew in his bones that this powerful woman was his Vod'ika._ _

__"Sir, it's her," he said defensively._ _

__"Shh, Hardcase. Shh. Anakin will know me," Ahsoka told him before pushing herself to let go, to look at the man she had lost so long ago. "If not, then the Force has been truly kind to me, to let me see my vod'e again."_ _

__She made to stand, despite all the strange sensations and twisting feeling, eyes tracking to the (so young) face of her former master._ _

__Hardcase got up beside her, putting his shoulder against her, and her hand settled on it._ _

__Anakin stared at the tall -- so tall, he had to look up at the curves of her montrals! -- woman standing there, leaning a little on Hardcase's shoulder, trying to decide. It didn't take long. The shape and shade of her eyes and her markings, the set of her jaw and the balanced threat in her stance all told him, as much or more than the ringing in the Force, that this _was_ his padawan. _ _

__His padawan's future, at least._ _

__He didn't understand how, or why, or what was going on... but this woman, this adult stranger in front of him was everything he'd hoped to see his padawan one day become. "Ahsoka," he said, soft. "Oh, Snips, _look_ at you..." _ _

__She had to smile, just a little, as she had not heard that name outside her memory in so long. "Hello, Anakin." She reached out with both her hands then. She would need to go slowly, with all that she knew, here in this time, to avoid making it all worse. "I do not know what happened any more than anyone else. And this is outside of anything I have ever studied."_ _

__Hardcase had to grin at that. "Flying by the seat of your pants as usual, then!"_ _

__Anakin wrapped his hands around her forearms, unable to touch her skin for the gauntlets that ran almost to her shoulders, held for a moment, then crossed the little space between them to hold her without unbalancing her. There was a grief in the air that wasn't the boys, and her 'see my _vod'e_ again' had all of his hair wanting to stand on end. _ _

__Whatever had happened to put her in armor the boys might even approve of... it wasn't good. "At least we're used to _that_ ," he said, directing the words at Hardcase, though the idea did not make him happy. He hated not knowing what was going on. _ _

__"But if you're suddenly all-grown-up... where's my Snips?"_ _

__"That is a good question. If we have merely traded places… she is safe, and will be with at least a couple of people who will recognize her for me, younger," Ahsoka said. Surely Hera knew her younger face, and Kanan certainly should!_ _

__+++_ _

__Time and space and reality all twisted and turned inside of Ahsoka, making her squeeze her eyes shut, reaching for her budding montrals to try and muffle them. She was going to be sick, and why did the Force feel so full and heavy all of a sudden, trying suffocate her?!_ _

__She cried out, a high whistle of pure pain as she slammed into awareness of a deck beneath her, a bulkhead behind her, and the feeling of artificial gravity. What -- this was impossible, and she had to see._ _

__Opening her eyes, though, gave more impetus to the sick feeling, and she whimpered, folding in on herself until she was tucked around her own knees, arms clinging tightly to them._ _

__"Did you hear something?" Hera asked, forward of where the sound had come from._ _

__Kanan, however, was frowning and already rising from his seat, going back toward the space Fulcrum had co-opted for meditation. Ezra half-joined hm in the hall._ _

__"No; I felt the Force shift too, but you should stay with the others," Kanan told the boy._ _

__"But--"_ _

__"Not the time, Ezra." Kanan pushed on through, going back, turning the last corner to see…_ _

__… a tiny blue, orange, and white ball with silka beads coming off the back of her head?_ _

__"Fulcrum?"_ _

__Ahsoka whimpered again at the sound hitting her montrals -- that wasn't a voice she knew, or a name -- but it really sounded like it was directed at her. She frowned, trying to gather her scattered thoughts, and held harder to her knees. Though if there were people, strangers, she had to at least try to focus, to look like a Jedi, not a pathetic bundle of misery._ _

__She opened one eye again, tried to lift her head, and gave it up for a bad job when light stabbed her eyes. "Um? Hi? Whoever you are out there."_ _

__"Karabast."_ _

__Zeb's curse word seemed to sum up all Kanan felt, because he _knew_ that smaller form. He had seen it more than a few times while reading up on Master Kenobi, before it all ended. "Ahsoka Tano?" he questioned, far more softly, so his voice did not carry._ _

__"Yeah," she agreed, "that's me... but where's here?"_ _

__No person could have taken her from the middle of her boys before she knew it, and besides, the twisting-awful had been pure Force... so it must want her here, wherever here was..._ _

__"About fifteen years after you looked like that," Kanan said, settling down to the decking by the door, not touching, not reaching out, but feeling the Force hum with anticipation of how this was handled. "I don't understand. You of the here and now came back here to meditate. But you look… you look like a HoloNet capture, if there were still ones to be found of those years."_ _

__"Fifteen years?" Ahsoka almost squeaked with her shock, "that's -- _I'm_ only sixteen. That -- I'd be older than _Skyguy_! ...not as old as Master Obi-Wan, though..." _ _

__What did he mean, 'still ones to be found' about the HoloNet? Everything was there, if you just knew how to look..._ _

__"Wow. Okay, so maybe sixteen years, if I remember things right," Kanan said. "And, you're possibly the youngest looking elder Jedi I have ever seen," he added with faint amusement, to try and make light of the situation. "I'm Kanan. You're aboard the _Ghost_. Not my ship, but definitely home."_ _

__Ahsoka's head felt like it was clearing, so she tried lifting it and opening an eye again. That wasn't terrible, so she tried the other eye, winced a little, but finally could look at the person talking to her. Skyguy's age, maybe, or a little older? "This," she said, "is **really** weird. Old-me was meditating? _ _

__"I was, too, but I've never heard of a meditation doing anything like this..."_ _

__"Neither have I, but then, the Force has been really odd lately," Kanan told her. "You're starting to look a little better; good."_ _

__How much did he tell her? How did he keep the others from overwhelming her? She was going to ask questions, and one of them (his bets fell on Sabine or Ezra) would spill the whole thing, with a tragedy she hadn't lived through._ _

__Only, what if that was the point? Was he supposed to tell her everything?_ _

__"I'm not tasting colors and seeing sounds," Ahsoka answered with a tiny nod and a try for a smile, "so I'm feeling better. Which is good. ...my whole life's worth of time in the future, though, is still super weird. I don't have any idea what I'm supposed to do. What was old-me doing? Other than meditating."_ _

__"That gets complicated, really fast," Kanan said. "I don't know how much I should tell you, given future knowledge and all," he added, which was a Jedi-truth, mostly._ _

__Ahsoka sighed, shooting him a long look. "...you might have a point, but I've got be here for _some_ reason." She paused for a moment. "Are you somebody I know already? You'd be a little younger than me, I think, but sometimes I can't tell about humans." _ _

__"I don't think you actually knew me then," he said quickly, just as unwilling to dig into who he had been as he was reluctant to tell her what had happened._ _

__"Okay," she said, though she wasn't entirely sure she believed him. Then her stomach growled and she jumped, shooting him an apologetic look. "Sorry. I guess I'm hungry. Do you have meat? I mean, if old-me was here, you've got to, but..."_ _

__"You'll have to come to the lounge," he told her, getting back to his feet so he could help her, if she needed it. "There's four others aboard… five if you count the droid, and he'll make your life terrible if you don't, I promise," Kanan said._ _

__Ahsoka chuckled softly, "I'm used to that -- opinionated droids, I mean."_ _

__She carefully picked herself up, only needing his hand for a second, and was relieved when the world seemed to behave itself. "Others, huh?"_ _

__"Captain of the ship, and the misfits that found us as we went," Kanan offered, striving to go light on the situation. "There's Sabine; she's a Mandalorian, little bit colorful. Ezra, from Lothal, who's more or less learning from me. Zeb, a member of the Lasat. And Hera, the pilot and owner of the ship, from Ryloth."_ _

__He guided her toward the lounge, relieved that Zeb seemed to be currently sleeping, but he could feel Ezra's curiosity ahead, and where he was, Sabine wasn't far from him. At least Hera was still in the cockpit working on the wiring repairs with Chopper?_ _

__Ahsoka laughed then. "Well, Mando," she said, "as far as I've seen, goes hand in hand with colorful. ...a Lasat? I don't think I've heard of them. But that's not that unusual, there're more species in the galaxy than I think I'm ever going to remember all of."_ _

__"I hear that," Kanan said. She was so small, so young, and Kanan was inwardly face-palming, because he'd been that young and small and a combat veteran too, once. How did he tell her about the Fall of the Republic, if the reason she was here was to learn it and fix it by going back?_ _

__They entered the lounge where, as suspected, both Sabine and Ezra waited. Ezra's face did nothing to hide his full curiosity, while Sabine barely managed to put a lid on her wariness._ _

__"Hey, Kanan, who's your friend?" Ezra asked._ _

__"This is Ahsoka Tano," Kanan said, cutting each of the pair a look that said 'go careful'. "The Force apparently had a little bit of a fit around her, so we're going to help her get her footing."_ _

__"Hi," Ahsoka said with a wave, looking at the boy and the girl in front of her. Definitely colorful, she had to agree, given Sabine's hair, though Ezra's was unusual, too. "Nice to meet you both. I like your art!"_ _

__"Yeah?" Sabine almost forgot to be wary in that moment, because her art was her life._ _

__"Ahsoka, that's Sabine, and this one's Ezra. Pretty sure they both are supposed to be working on repairs," he added._ _

__"We mostly--" Ezra began, but Sabine elbowed his ribs, hard enough to get a grunt._ _

__"On it, Kanan," Sabine answered, dragging him out while Kanan found food that would work for Ahsoka._ _

__Ahsoka bit her tongue until she couldn't hear them, and then she giggled, shaking her head. "As a 'shoo before you say something you shouldn't', that wasn't subtle, Kanan. About like trying to manage my boys. Thank you."_ _

__Her boys. Kriff it sideways in a nebulae, but this youngling that she had been still believed in those murdering--_ _

__He cut himself off, intently, not thinking about the men, trying not to hear his master's desperate 'run!' shouted at him before they killed her._ _

__"You're welcome, Ahsoka." He set a plate down, then added a water bottle to it, before sitting opposite her._ _

__She tipped her head, and stretched one hand out to him, resting her fingertips on the back of his hand while she picked up a bite with the other, "What's wrong?"_ _

__He still hadn't gotten used to fully cloaking his emotions again. "A lot of things, Ahsoka. But nothing I want to talk about right now. Let's get you fed, steadied out, and then see if the Force has any guidance for us. Like, oh, where your elder self went."_ _

__"Okay," she agreed, and pulled her hand back again to settle herself to the food. The mention of where her elder self had gone... she paused, cocking her head. "Did she trade places with me, maybe?"_ _

__"If that's the case… life is going to be very interesting."_ _

__+++_ _

__"General, sir, is everything alright?" came over Anakin's comm, making Ahsoka's lekku twitch. That was not just any vod, but… her protector, the man that had given her a chance for life._ _

__"The Force decided to be weird, Rex," Anakin answered, "but mostly, yeah. Tell Coric to take over and come join me on Marik's lartie."_ _

__They'd moved inside the transport Ahsoka'd fallen off of for the moment, waiting until more of the camp was asleep to move to his own tent. Hardcase would keep quiet on something this big, and so would the other two._ _

__"On my way, sir," Rex answered, making Ahsoka have to force herself into stillness, before she vibrated through the decking._ _

__Rex? She was going to see Rex?!_ _

__"See you in a minute," Anakin agreed, clicked the comm off, and turned towards his padawan, looking at the way she was holding so still. "Snips? What is it, little one?"_ _

__She snorted at him for the description, but she had to shake her head then. "I haven't seen him since he helped me escape Mandalore," she said, not wanting to yet tell him about what had been done by their men, and how. "I've sent messages, but… they go nowhere. I've heard nothing back from him, though I have a lead about where he might possibly be._ _

__"I just haven't been brave enough to go, when he's ignored me all these years," she told Anakin._ _

__"Rex? Ignore you?" Anakin shook his head, moving closer to her, sliding an arm low around his waist. He found that impossible to believe, nearly ludicrous. "More likely he's lost access to whatever you were using to communicate, Snips. Escape Mandalore -- no, never mind, you're not going to tell me anyway, not yet."_ _

__"No. I'm not. And maybe he has. I don't know." Ahsoka shook it off. "It's been well over a decade since I saw him, anyway, and it's more shocking to me than others, maybe, because of how we separated."_ _

__Anakin hugged her closer, low noise in his throat, as he said softly, "He wouldn't ignore you, Ahsoka."_ _

__She hugged him back. "It's actually best, probably, that he hasn't been in touch. I'm not leading a very safe life after all, and he'd have fits over it," she teased, to ease the ache in her heart._ _

__Anakin snorted. "What'd be new about that?" he asked, before he felt Rex's worried presence outside and turned to meet him, letting his arm slide from around her._ _

__Rex stepped up onto the lartie, looked into the gloom of it for his General -- and froze into stillness at the sight of montrals that rose over even the General's head, curved and sharp, and a half-seen, refined face with white markings that threw what light there was back in a pattern he knew as well as his paint... what the _kriff_?!_ _

__She moved then, stepping to the side, needing to see Rex, and she froze. This was a young man, nothing like those few men she had found and broken free of the Empire, too old before their time. Seeing Hardcase, frozen by death in her memories, had not really prepared her for seeing a man that she hoped still lived in her time._ _

__How many times had she wondered how the aging had hit him?_ _

__"Hello, Captain," she made herself say, before the silence made him too twitchy._ _

__Rex would've scrubbed his hand over his eyes, except his gauntlets were filthy with campaign grime and Kix would kill him if he got one infected or some slag, and he shook his head as though that would make what he was seeing any less insane._ _

__That didn't sound like his Commander, except for the ways it did, but she was suddenly full-grown, and what?_ _

__"Sir," he said darkly, "when you said the Force had been _odd_ , I think you went for a General Kenobi _understatement_. If I'm actually reading those marks right, at least." _ _

__Ahsoka had to smirk a little. "Anakin is pretty good at Kenobi-isms, I think," she said, to tease her master. "But Force being odd is one of those things that just fits this moment." She came closer, letting him take in the full details of armor and height and thinner features. "Don't worry, Captain; I plan to get your version back here as soon as I figure out how to handle what the Force wants."_ _

__Rex stared for several long moments as his eyes adjusted to the light, shocked at seeing all that height and the hip-long columns of her lekku. She was a stunningly beautiful woman, graceful and dangerous and blatantly, obviously competent. "Finally listened to the lot of us and put decent armor on, I see, sir. Good. As to the rest... 'back here'?"_ _

__Worry for his Commander hit him in a wave, because if she was somewhere else, she might not have them, have backup that would know her and watch her six and take care of her._ _

__"Pretty certain she's on the ship I was on, safe in the care of some of my best operatives," Ahsoka told him. "And yeah, the armor is a thing." She memorized, anew, the look of him, the feel of him in the Force, and saved that for when she was facing her own bleak reality again._ _

__Rex relaxed at that, at hearing that at least his Commander was safe somewhere, with people her other, elder (and wasn't that a trip and a half?) self trusted to take care of her. "Good._ _

__"This's... more than a little strange, sirs," he said, with a shake of his head at his own understatement, and looked at his General rather than stare at the woman that had replaced the girl he knew. "What do you need from me? From us."_ _

__//To be safe,// Ahsoka wanted to say with all her heart. She wanted to recalibrate the droid popper hanging off his belt, take out the chip here and now, but she had to be patient. "A cloak long enough for me to wear with a hood?" she said instead. "Hardcase knows, and two others, but they'll be quiet about it."_ _

__Rex nodded, though he was sure that wasn't all that was on her mind, and considered that request. "Not even yours would be sized for that, would they, sir?" he asked, and got a shake of his General's head in return. "Well, easy enough to get. I'll see to it. Anything else, sirs?"_ _

__"Food for her," Anakin said before Ahsoka could deny it._ _

__"Yes sir," Rex agreed, nodded sharply once, and turned to go._ _

__Ahsoka watched him leave, then made herself lock down the Rex-shaped hole missing in her own life. She had too much on her plate to regret losing him in more than her most private moments. her life belonged to the Force, and then the Rebellion, not herself, not any longer, if it ever had._ _

__+++_ _

__Kanan had pondered the problem, excused himself, and gone to find Hera. she normally had good advice, and needed to be told what the Force had done to her director in this whole Rebellion thing._ _

__"Hera, there's a -- huh, small fits -- small problem with Fulcrum, and I need advice."_ _

__Hera extricated herself from where she was half-buried in the decking, and turned to look at him, concern narrowing her brows. "What's wrong with Fulcrum? And if I have it, it's yours, love."_ _

__He felt a little more confident, just having her faith right there in her words and body language. "Apparently, during meditation, Fulcrum vanished and we have Padawan Ahsoka Tano, late of the Grand Army of the Republic, in our lounge," he said. "Working on the assumption the Force swapped them… what do I do now?"_ _

__Hera stared at him for a long moment, two, and took a slow breath as the fingers of her left hand fiddled with the strap of one holster, chewing on her lip. "I... don't understand _that_ at all. And oh, that poor girl. Seeing this future... even if you haven't told her anything yet. _ _

__"Which... we're going to have to. We can't keep her in the dark. But... I hate the idea, Kanan."_ _

__"Me too, Hera," Kanan said softly, leaning back on the bulkhead. "She's not even as old as she was at the trial… year before, if I remember some of those headlines right. Thankfully, I don't remember a lot about that, and can just… not bring it up, maybe?"_ _

__"I don't see that it matters much now," Hera agreed, moving closer to him to lean against his chest a little. "I mean... you escaped. So if she'd still been part of the Order, she could have the same way. I remember almost nothing about it either. Let's stick with what we do know best."_ _

__"Which isn't all that much compared to Fulcrum, I'd wager. That friend of yours is playing her hand way too close to her chest for my comfort," Kanan said, before shaking his head. "This… changes a lot. Or, we hope it does?" He sighed. "Alright; I'll go start the whole 'by the way, everything and everyone you knew is gone' speech."_ _

__"Would you rather I did, love?" Hera asked, "I can, you know. And it's much less personal for me._ _

__"As to Fulcrum... she has to. You know that, even if you dislike it."_ _

__Kanan almost agreed, then shook his head. "No. I can do it. I… may need to. Just -- where'd Chopper go, no nevermind -- just try to run interference, so I can do this before one of the others says something horrible."_ _

__"If you're sure, love," Hera said, and lifted up to press a kiss to his cheek. "I'll come keep an eye on the others, then."_ _

__"Thanks, Hera." He returned the kiss with one between the separation of her lekku, then turned to go back to the lounge._ _

__+++_ _

__Fulcrum took a deep breath as she settled on a camp stool in Anakin's tent, trying to place which campaign they were at, needing to make a timetable in her head. It was obviously before Umbara, but that wasn't as helpful as she might want._ _

__Seeing Hardcase and Rex had just reinforced her need to take advantage of this strange Force twist to actually save her men, and save the Republic while she did it. Only, she'd have to lay the groundwork and somehow make it possible for her younger self to return, because she had no wish to steal the life that version of her would then have._ _

__"I'm not even sure where to begin with all of this," she admitted to her one-time master._ _

__"Well, Snips," Anakin said, his voice bone-dry, "that makes two of us. If I'm any judge, I'd say you're... at least my age? Which is a shock. And my Master's going to be insufferable." He glanced at her height for explanation._ _

__"I guess we should start with what you were doing when you got... moved? tossed? shifted? back here, though. I mean, 'start at the beginning', and all. Maybe there's a clue there."_ _

__Ahsoka smirked at him. "Older, Skyguy," and it was so easy to use the old nickname, like he wasn't either dead at the defense of the Temple, or --_ _

__No. She did not think about that._ _

__"I was meditating. I'd had a recent bad run with the team I have been most recently working with," she said, thinking on things. "I'd been feeling so helpless lately, as more and more people suffer or die, and wishing with all my soul that I could find a way to fix it, to make the pain end." She met his eyes clearly then. "Apparently, the Force is in the mood to grant wishes._ _

__"If my team teaches the young one 'history', as I know it, and I share some of it here, we might derail a lot of pain, even once we switch back."_ _

__"Older," Anakin muttered, shaking his head. "My padawan is older than me, this is backwards." Then he focused on what she'd said, and he moved to rest his hand on her shoulder, away from her lekku._ _

__" _Still_ fighting, Snips? That... storms, how did we screw up that bad?" _ _

__Ahsoka, who had been fighting over half her life, tried to imagine the idea of winning it here and now. It was almost impossible for her, but she had to try. "We didn't, not as individuals. The Order? Blind to the real dangers. The Republic? Too much a taste for doing things the easy way, not resisting when they should have._ _

__"The future I am from, Anakin, is a horrible place, where hope is dependent on shadows, and a few brave people are trying to undo the legacy of this war."_ _

__Ankin shifted a little closer yet, uncertainty and worry coiling and biting through him because the thought of what she was saying was so bitterly painful that he almost couldn't face it. But this was his Snips, even if she was all grown up, and he knew she didn't lie to him._ _

__"Then we've got to do something to change it," he said._ _

__She inclined her head toward him, that half-nod, half-raised shoulder thing that Snips did so often when she knew it, but wasn't sure they could._ _

__"I suppose that is why I wound up here and now," Ahsoka told him, giving a smile to him. "Snips and Skyguy, at it again?"_ _

__"Yeah," Anakin agreed, and then, despite everything she'd said and wasn't saying, despite the threat of more than a decade more of war, the corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile, "though it's only 'again' for you, little one."_ _

__Ahsoka laughed at that, then reached for him for a hug. "Oh, I have missed you."_ _

__Anakin let himself wrap around her, holding on tight -- and then the probable meaning of her words hit him, and he went still. "...Snips?"_ _

__She burrowed into his hold, turning her face toward his throat, holding on to him. "It's a very long story, and not a pretty one at all, and… I don't think I should talk to just you when I tell it." Who would be best? None of the men; they couldn't be burdened until the chip was deactivated._ _

__She still could not bear the thought of dealing with Windu, after all these years, but she had made peace with her Finder's memory, would be willing to turn all that vicious hunting of Ti loose on the Sith, could probably best cope with with Secura, but she wasn't a Council Member. Of course she needed Kenobi to be present, and would be glad to see him._ _

__The entire Council, though, would possibly be the smart thing, except she didn't dare go to Coruscant._ _

__"I need to speak to your master at the very least," she finally said. "Any close members of the Council that could join him? And no, not by comms. What I know? Is not to go on any encryptions that the Republic uses."_ _

__Anakin held her close, resting his head on hers, laid between the broad crests of her montrals, and hummed low in his throat. "I'll get him, then. And I think Master Tiin's only two sectors over. For something like this -- whatever it is you know, what you've faced -- he can probably hold the Council telepathic link together long enough."_ _

__He considered her words about the Republic comms, and finally, slowly, asked, "Sidious? Dooku's supposed Master? He's actually real?"_ _

__"Oh, Anakin, you have no idea just how real," she murmured, closing her eyes. "But, I have faith in us. We can, and will, work together. Once I speak to them, I will try hard to get the younger me back here, as I am certain Spectre-1 will fill her in. Or Spectre-2 will."_ _

__"Of course we can, Snips," Anakin told her, still holding her close. "Codenames, huh? And... I really would sort of like my half-sized padawan _back_ , yeah." _ _

__"One name wouldn't mean anything, and the other would just be confusing," she said, before grinning at him. "I was short, wasn't I?"_ _

__"A little, yeah," Anakin agreed, thinking about his Snips, then teased her, "though in _personality_ you've always been at least this big." That got a soft laugh, before she sighed and pulled back. _ _

__"We don't know how much time I have to do this, Anakin, so… best to start."_ _

__"Yeah," Anakin agreed, arm still around her though he'd let her pull back some, and he started to sink into himself, into the Force, to contact his Master through it rather than risk even that comm. He had to trust that his padawan knew what she was talking about, and that meant not letting anyone have any chance of overhearing._ _

__+++_ _

__Kanan plans were almost sidetracked by finding Ahsoka curled on her side, apparently napping, despite how short a time he'd been gone, but then she sat back up, yawning enough to bare sharp teeth._ _

__She waved at him, still yawning, and blinked her catnap back out of her eyes. "Sorry," she apologized, "little tired for... some reason."_ _

__"Would you prefer to try and sleep?" Kanan asked, before kicking himself in the proverbial rear for offering himself an easy way out of this._ _

__"Nah," she shook her head, "I'm awake now. I can sleep once I know... whatever I'm supposed to be here to find out. I mean. Unless I just had to come here so old-me could go there."_ _

__"Probably best to tackle it from both ends, given that we have no idea how long you are exchanged for?" Kanan settled in a chair, taking up the juice he'd abandoned earlier. "So… if the Force has stopped ringing, you might notice it sounds… different from when you are from."_ _

__"I haven't really reached out to it," Ahsoka answered, before she took a breath and sank into herself a little, opening to the Force. It was empty, and dark, and she cringed away instantly, snapping her eyes back open to stare at him. "...it's wrong," she whispered. "Echo-y, and it hurts."_ _

__"Yeah. I spent a lot of years trying to be passed out, to avoid hearing it. Shut myself off to it completely," Kanan said. "Because… we're the last Jedi I know of, Ahsoka." Thee was just no way to soften that blow._ _

__"Wh-what?" Ahsoka asked, her mind refusing to accept that those words had been in Basic, that they were words at all._ _

__It couldn't be._ _

__Master Plo, Master Obi-Wan, _Skyguy_ , Master Secura, Master Kit -- no, **no**. She shook her head at him, disbelieving and mute. _ _

__"I wish that I didn't have to tell you that," Kanan told her. "There was a huge betrayal at the end of the war, one that led to most of the Jedi dying in a couple of days. The few who escaped were hunted down," he said. "The Republic fell, and now we fight an Empire."_ _

__Ahsoka shook her head again, but she could see in his eyes how much he it hurt him to say it, how much he believed it. "That... that doesn't make any sense. I -- I know you mean it, but. It just doesn't make _sense_."_ _

__"Yeah, I know, because you can't see the endgame any better than any of us did at the time. You still think they are the best thing, looking after us, without the mystery of their origins ever really being explained," Kanan said with pain and bitterness._ _

__Ahsoka tensed, baring her teeth at him, and her whole body tightened. She could hear the weight of the 'they', and no, those were _her_ boys, her brothers. _ _

__He felt her resistance to it, and shook his head. "I watched them turn on us, Ahsoka. I felt it when their blaster fire -- " He had to swallow, remembering just how many phantom injuries he had felt before the bond went terrifyingly, mercifully dark. "When they killed my Master, after she made me run."_ _

__"No," Ahsoka said, shaking her head in utter and complete disbelief, though she could see the pain and grief in his eyes and face, feel it in the Force, "no, they...."_ _

__"I never believed they could, until they were," Kanan told her gently. "Official reason was that the Jedi Order had planned a coup, attacked the Chancellor, and sabotaged multiple systems under the guise of war efforts._ _

__"As if we would have ever prolonged the war for power!"_ _

__Ahsoka shook her head one more time, her knees drawing up against her body. He had to have been another padawan, had to have been just like her -- except he hadn't had the nightmares -- knowing he was safe with them, and then... There had to be more to it. There **had** to be. The boys wouldn't have just attacked them, not without something else. _ _

__"Of _course_ we wouldn't! That's _insane!_ And a coup? Really? That's totally ridiculous!" _ _

__"It was all an excuse, Ahsoka. An excuse to let the Chancellor destroy the Republic and declare his Empire," Kanan said wearily. "The military grows closer every day to ruling every system."_ _

__Ahsoka blinked at him once, slowly, as something cold and dangerous slithered up and down her spine. "...the Chancellor?" she asked, quiet and afraid._ _

__Kanan nodded, slowly, before wishing he had a drink. "Pretty certain that if he's not the actual Sith, he's got an advisor who is."_ _

__Ahsoka pulled her knees up tighter, abandoning the food as she then froze into complete stillness, unmoving as if she were unarmed and an akul was only meters away, barely even breathing. The thought flashed over and over through her mind, 'the Chancellor is Sith, the Chancellor is Sith' and she fell into full Teräs Käsi discipline to disappear more._ _

__Kanan's face furrowed in a frown, disconcerted as the youngling version of Fulcrum pulled Fulcrum's trick of vanishing in the Force. "Wow. You started that young," he couldn't help but say._ _

__The Chancellor was a Sith, and she was trapped in some hell-future where her boys had turned on them, and... she wanted to be sick, so sick, but she couldn't, she couldn't even move -- Skyguy, Skyguy, oh, _Skyguy no_. It took a few seconds before she could manage to make her vocal cords work again, to convince herself to make sound at all. _ _

__"Master Kit taught me," she agreed, still very quiet. "He's up at night a lot."_ _

__"That was… the Nautolan, right, on the Council?" Kanan asked her. "I don't remember a lot of them any more."_ _

__Ahsoka nodded a little, as she tried to convince her body that they weren't in immediate danger and it could relax, stop being so still. "That's Master Kit," she agreed. "Well. Was, I guess."_ _

__The thought of a world without Master Kit's bright, wide smile and gentle voice, without his calm advice and patient teaching (and love for Master Secura and for Bly) was a sharp, bitter pain._ _

__"Maybe the Force is doing this to you to let you change it all," Kanan reminded her. "I don't know Fulcrum well, but I suspect she's going to be laying the groundwork."_ _

__"Fulcrum. That's what you called me first. That's old-me?"_ _

__She had to change it. She had to fix it, had to stop the evil old man she'd thought was only a creepy old man. Had to protect her Master, and figure out what could possibly have happened to her boys to make them do something so terrible. Had to protect the Order._ _

__"What happened to the Count and his pet assassin?"_ _

__Kanan's forehead wrinkled up. "I seem to remember a Jedi-level comm that Dooku had been killed? Just before the end. And I don't know who you mean by pet assassin," he answered. "But yes. Fulcrum recruited Hera, and has been assigning us tasks ever since. She's some big shot in the Rebellion."_ _

__"Asajj Ventress," Ahsoka answered, blinking once at him, "female, human we think, tall, super pale, face tattoos? Jar'kai Makashi user."_ _

__She wasn't sure what she thought of the idea of her being some kind of big shot in a Rebellion -- but she couldn't, ever, let the Sith take over and not do something._ _

__"Vaguely familiar?" Kanan admitted. "But not since the war, so probably dead. The only Sith we've heard of is this walking set of black armor, but no one seems to survive to actually describe him fully."_ _

__Ahsoka hummed low in her throat. Dooku dead, and the witch either dead or vanished... huh. Okay, one maybe-not-awful thing about this future. Not at all worth the rest of it, though. "...no?"_ _

__"No. I think he's closing in on us, though; there's been rumors too close to our missions lately," Kanan said. "Given that Fulcrum has a habit of demolishing Inquisitors, wouldn't be surprised."_ _

__"Inquisitors?" Ahsoka asked, not liking the sound of that at all._ _

__"Corrupted Force users," he explained. "Dangerous."_ _

__Ahsoka shuddered, scrubbing her hands on her skin. "Ew. That sounds pretty awful."_ _

__"Yeah." Kanan reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry it all hit you like that," he told her. "But, you need to know, for when you get back there. If, you know, we're right, and you're not just Fulcrum turned into a kid again."_ _

__"Need to know it even _more_ , if I am her turned back into a kid," Ahsoka pointed out, and she reached to pat his hand gently, looking at the regret and apology in his eyes. "Thank you. It can't've been easy for you to tell me." _ _

__"Not really," he agreed, before turning to touch her hand in turn._ _

__+++_ _

__It had taken longer than Anakin -- or this new, older version of his padawan -- had wanted, but oddly enough, Master Tiin and Master Obi-Wan actually arrived on the _Resolute_ only a few minutes apart. In the intervening time, at least, they'd finished the campaign and made it back aboard ship, and she and Artoo had gone over the _Twilight_ intently. _ _

__They actually had found a couple of listening devices, which had infuriated Anakin (but it had been another proof that she was right), and dealt with them, so there was one safe place to hold a meeting, at least. Ahsoka was staying on the _Twilight_ , out of sight, so Anakin had gone to meet the masters._ _

__Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at Master Tiin before focusing on Anakin. "Where are we holding this meeting, Anakin? Also, you look good for the kind of campaign I saw your last one was."_ _

__"My commander was impressed with some of the maneuvers he read on that one," Saesee Tiin said, nodding to Anakin._ _

__"On the _Twilight_ , Master," Anakin answered, though he smiled at him for the other part of those words, "and thank you, Master Tiin. I'll have to tell my Captain that._ _

__"I'd apologize for my mysteriousness, but this is the kind of thing you're going to have to see to believe -- and I'm so glad you're both here, because not getting any more information has been driving. me. up the wall."_ _

__"Oh poor Anakin, having to wait for something," Obi-Wan said in a teasing voice, and Saesee had to allow one corner of his mouth to turn up for the sass._ _

__"Have you placed any new modifications?" the elder master asked. "I've nearly finished retrofitting your modifications to the _Dorin's Blade_ on all of my fleet's starfighters." They both walked with him toward the ship that looked so out of place among the Fleet authorized ships and their vod'e art._ _

__Anakin shot a glare at his Master for a moment -- Obi-Wan didn't have to be so amused at that he'd been being driven crazy by that Ahsoka refused to tell him anything until there were other people there -- and then he snorted._ _

__"You just wait until you see why I called you, and tell me you'd be any better in my place," he replied. "And... only a couple, Master, I'll show you once we're done."_ _

__The ramp was already down, so it was easy enough to walk up and into the cargo bay, where he'd arranged seating for four. Artoo beeped welcome, and rolled aft to shut the ramp after them._ _

__Fulcrum had acquired a cloak, and was wearing it with the hood up. Both men took her in, trying to weigh the Force presence, and coming up short._ _

__She waited for both of them to take their seats, and for Anakin to do so, not wanting to startle them until they were settled._ _

__"Well, hello there," Obi-Wan said in an affable tone._ _

__"Greetings, stranger," Saesee said, settling, his curiosity riding high now._ _

__Anakin let himself snicker, glancing from his Master to Master Tiin, and settled into his own seat -- between Obi-Wan and Ahsoka -- and waited to see Ahsoka's response._ _

__"What is so amus -- " Obi-Wan heard his voice cut off as bronzed hands went up and folded the hood back. Facial marks he knew very well stood impossibly on defined cheeks and broad forehead, bright blue eyes now much smaller but still utterly known looking at him... and long, graceful montrals striped with blue and white were exposed at the last._ _

__"How, in all the galaxy, have you reached Master Ti's stature so suddenly, Tano?" Saesee asked with shock, some heartbeats after the revelation._ _

__"I assure you, Master Tiin, I got to this height in the normal amount of time," she said, her voice settled to a more mature, practiced pitch. "I and my younger self -- we hope -- seem to have used the Force to accidentally change places in time."_ _

__"That," Saesee said, slowly, as Obi-Wan appeared not to be able to speak, "is... baffling, Tano, and also very concerning. Because it would surely require some terribly pressing need for the Force to allow such a thing."_ _

__Ahsoka looked at him, then smirked. "Master Tiin, I thought it was only my line," and she looked at Obi-Wan, "who understated things so keenly."_ _

__Anakin laughed at that, especially when Master Tiin actually dipped his head in acknowledgement, and then raised an eyebrow at his Master._ _

__"Guilty, I suppose," Obi-Wan admitted. "But it does not change the point of the comment, Ahsoka… hard as it is to admit you are our padawan all grown up." There was just enough stress on 'up' to show he'd noted that the curse of being shorted, save Yoda, continued._ _

__Anakin rolled his eyes -- that had really _not_ been his point, but it was sort of funny -- and leaned back against his seat a little more. "Okay, Snips. I got them here, since you insisted on not telling me anything except that you know who the Sith in the Republic is until we had at least Master Obi-Wan here... so now it's your show." _ _

__"And now I understand, I believe, why I was asked for," Saesee said, "though it may take me a few moments to convince the other ten of us to be orderly about things. Please allow me a few moments to begin that, Tano?"_ _

__"Of course, Master. The news I have will be unsettling at the very least," she said, using an understatement herself. "So they will need to brace themselves to not disrupt the communication once it is begun."_ _

__She was, Anakin noted after having been in her company, managing to mitigate her annoyance with the Jedi Order and be professional. He had no idea that it came from years of practice at interacting with both former Separatists and former Empire denizens who had refused to listen to warnings they'd been given._ _

__At that, Obi-Wan himself began bracing himself for the impact; he refused, as youngest Master of the Council, to be the disruption._ _

__Saesee reached for Plo first -- he was going to need their other telepath's help, badly, for this. ::Plo. Plo Koon...::_ _

__::Yes, Saesee?:: Plo asked, sounding distracted but not as though he was in combat._ _

__::Whatever you're doing, can you leave it quickly?::_ _

__::I believe so, yes. I take it I should. One moment.:: It was more than a moment, but Plo was soon with him again. ::Yes, Saesee?::_ _

__::I need you to aid in gathering the entire Council to a meeting. It must happen now, and it must be held in the highest secrecy of our links,:: Saesee informed him. ::Yet again, your Foundling has proven precocious, teamed up with Skywalker, and let the Force be odd.::_ _

__Plo felt puzzled, ::While Ahsoka is precocious, yes, what do you mean by the Force being odd?::_ _

__::Gather the others, and you will learn,:: Saesee said, with a hint of the smugness he'd possessed as a teen during Plo's childhood._ _

__::All right. If _you're_ sounding like this, it's definitely going to be interesting,:: Plo sent, and added, ::I'll hold Mace's connection, if you'll hold Yoda's.:: _ _

__It didn't -- amazingly -- take all that long to acquire most of them, though Ki-Adi-Mundi was in combat and so was Adi Gallia. Adi's opinion was that if it was this critical, they should go ahead without them and someone could fill them in after._ _

__Saesee made sure it was all anchored, and then reached out to the strange version of Tano… and found that sliding her into the link solidified every connection firmly. Anakin, less used to this, was brought in after a moment, and Saesee did his best to help the young man settle, while being curious at how ill this form of communication set with him._ _

__::Everyone, meet Ahsoka Tano, of some years to the future,:: Saesee sent to quell the mild protest at a stranger and a non-Council member being present._ _

__::Odd as it is, I am convinced of her identity,:: Obi-Wan sent to them all, even as he worried for his padawan's privacy issues making this hard on Anakin._ _

__::Greetings, Jedi Council Members,:: Ahsoka sent, her voice flavored by maturity, strife, and suffering. ::As the Force has deemed it needed that I be here in my younger self's place, I wish to share the points that led to my future swiftly, to perhaps set the galaxy on a better course.::_ _

__::Ahsoka?:: Plo asked, shocked, reaching out for her as his chest ached at the grieving sound of her mental voice._ _

__::You intend to change the future?:: Oppo Rancisis asked, his thoughts obviously disapproving._ _

__Anakin, for his part, was trying to keep hold of the link without bleeding into it -- and he kept his flash of frustration to himself as best he could at that question. LIke she'd _be_ here if the Force didn't want things to change? _ _

__::Master Rancisis, I suggest you, and your peers, open your mind to the fact that the Force itself chose to place me here,:: Ahsoka sent with so much _beskar_ in her voice that even Windu, who had been struggling with shifting shatterpoints, proverbially sat up straighter. There was power in the voice, not aimed at manipulating, but reinforcing the agent of change._ _

__::I am listening to the will of the Force,:: Shaak Ti sent, her own disapproval for Oppo's narrow view coming through. ::Speak, young huntress.::_ _

__::As Shaak said, Ahsoka,:: Kit added, quickly, ::I, too, am listening.::_ _

__Anakin smiled a little, hearing Master Kit and Master Ti firmly defend his padawan, and waited._ _

__::All of you have already lost the war, as it is, because the war itself is no more than a means for the Sith to make the Republic fractured, no ally to the Jedi, and to grant power to the man that has orchestrated it all,:: Ahsoka said, pausing to allow the reactions to be shoved down by both telepaths holding the communication open. ::The very men we love and respect and work beside have been crafted with a trap to destroy who they are, and kill every Jedi alive… when the Sith chooses.::_ _

__Saesee learned it was very hard to hold a telepathic net together when one anchor was in an absolute fit of emotion, but then he felt Ahsoka -- not quite her, it felt like -- reinforce it all and keep the other members, also in distress, present._ _

__::Snips?:: Anakin asked, shocked and horrified and barely managing to hold still, because the thought of a threat like that to his men, of what that would do to them, had him vibrating with tension._ _

__Plo was doing his best to keep the link steady, but as Anakin's concern and anger flared, it was harder to keep his fear for his sons in check._ _

__::I can disable it individually; I figured that out as a way to repay my debt to them all, Captain Rex most of all, as he protected me the day it happened. There is a chip, buried inside their skulls, that makes it impossible to disobey their contingency orders._ _

__::Orders that include a kill order on the Jedi, should they be declared traitors, as they were in my past.:: Very carefully, Ahsoka pulled up memories of those official pronouncements, the holo clips she had watched in horror before running for the Rim._ _

__It was Obi-Wan, though, who realized that Anakin was having trouble with more than being in the link, that his very mind was trying to deny those memories from someone he trusted… because of the voice of the person in those memories declaring the Jedi as the enemy._ _

__::ANAKIN!:: Obi-Wan called, while also saying it out loud, his fear for his padawan nearly breaking the link he held._ _

__::Master?:: Anakin replied, aloud and mentally. He was shaken, an ache starting in his head as he tried to focus on Ahsoka's memories, on what people he knew and cared about were being accused of (mad, all of it), but..._ _

__::Continue without us, Masters,:: Obi-Wan sent hastily, before dropping out to get hold of Anakin and guide him to the back of the ship._ _

__::I hoped I was wrong about that part of it,:: Ahsoka sent, sadly, ::as I wanted to believe my Master was dead, not a puppet of that vile creature.::_ _

__::Windu?:: Saesee asked, as another blank spot had developed while Obi-Wan was trying to aid his padawan._ _

__::That voice,:: Eeth said, horror going through his mind and rippling out._ _

__::Mace dropped out on me,:: Plo replied, ::I think a convergence of shatterpoints overwhelmed him. I must ask Wolffe to speak to Razor. And yes, Eeth, I _know_.:: _ _

__They could all hear, faintly, Plo speaking to Wolffe, because he could not separate from holding the link together._ _

__Kit, at Eeth's horror and Plo's assent, turned his attention to the words again, and fear and confusion flashed from him through the link. He was concerned for Skywalker, but more, as he recalled the voice, he was shocked to his bones to realize he, too, was utterly aware of who that was._ _

__::Puppet?:: Yoda asked Ahsoka, his tone a challenge._ _

__No one in the link failed to notice the cold chill that formed as the time-lost woman focused narrowly on the Grandmaster of the Order._ _

__::Puppet,:: she reinforced. ::As a padawan, I heard the personal intimacy that the Sith fostered toward my master. I mistook it, then, as something of a physical nature, which my master rejected without even seeing, given his nature._ _

__::Now, I know it was grooming Anakin for eventually replacing Dooku, a fact that I began to suspect as I helped build a resistance to the Empire, and heard rumors of the new Sith. I did not wish to believe it but I know, had anything of my master remained, he would _never_ have left the Vod'e An as slaves, lost to who they had been, just colorless pieces in the Empire's military machine!::_ _

__::Your passion -- :: Oppo began, only to be cut off._ _

__::My passion remains, because I have not forgotten to be the servant of the Force, and to open my heart to all in need, to reach out with full compassion to those less able or more injured than I am!::_ _

__::No,:: Kit Fisto agreed, solemn and fierce, ::Anakin Skywalker would not permit an atrocity like that to remain, not even were he lost in a Fall. Not if I know anything of him. And you, Master Yoda -- I don't know **why** you dislike that boy so, but I have about had enough of it. That boy has been nothing but loyal and generous and compassionate since I have known him, and Ki-Adi says the same!::_ _

__Ahsoka wanted to cheer Kit, but she was wrestling her emotions back to an acceptable level. She heard the silence in the link with glee, then gave herself over to explaining the rest. ::Yes, Jedi Council,:: and she realized some of the others were picking up on the fact she set herself outside their jurisdiction somehow in those words. ::The Chancellor is the true enemy, and you must not be the ones to move directly against him, not without protecting the men first._ _

__::I have no idea if the Force will give me much more time here, or if I should take it. I need to get the younger me back in her right place, so she can live the better life I hope you all bring in. I've compiled a data pad of those who were enriched by Empire Day, that I will leave with my masters here._ _

__::May the Force guide you wisely.::_ _

__::It certainly appears we are in desperate need of _that_ ,:: Shaak Ti agreed, quiet and concerned, ::if we can have been so blind for so long. May the Force treat you gently, little sister.:: _ _

__::Are there other pressing questions?:: Saesee asked, ::I believe my attention is needed **here**.:: _ _

__The others let it go, though the burning question in all of them was 'how', before they disassembled to go about their lives, to begin figuring out how to whittle away the power of a man they had all trusted to some degree or other._ _

__Ahsoka felt the connections break, and then looked at Saesee Tiin. "Please help my master survive this intact, Master Tiin. He deserves better than being used, as I fear happened in my life."_ _

__"I will give all the aid I can," Saesee agreed, and rose to move back towards Obi-Wan and Anakin._ _

__Ahsoka watched, then left to go make certain all of her notes were here for them to follow. The beginning of change had been made; she had to get things lined up and then make certain Padawan Tano was here._ _

__+++_ _

__The Daughter smiled where she rested, connecting these pieces of her chosen one. The path was laid, and they could choose a new path forward. It was time to place pieces back in their right spots._ _

__+++_ _

__Ahsoka Tano, often called Snips, yawned as she watched the tile game between the three adults of the crew. She yawned again, not a minute later, and decided she could take a hint, going to curl up in the space that had been made for her._ _

__She wished, so much, to just wake up with her own men and master near, for this to all be just a bad dream._ _

__Even then, she knew she'd be begging Master Plo to look for the danger Kanan spoke of, afraid of it coming true. Her boys couldn't, wouldn't ever …_ _

__+++_ _

__Fulcrum let her eyes close, just for a minute, as she sat watching over the exhausted three-part pile of Master Obi-Wan, Master Tiin, and her own Master. Watching as Master Tiin had had to make physical contact with both of them, as her Master's face had twisted in torment and grief and rage and she'd been unable to help, had been awful. That Master Obi-Wan, too, had obviously needed Master Tiin's help had surprised her -- that she'd never thought of -- but he had collapsed just as much as her Master had at the end of it. Master Tiin had opened one eye, blinked at her, and collapsed himself._ _

__She and Artoo were keeping an eye on them, making sure that they had time to rest. She'd already had to reassure Rex that everything was okay, that it was just Jedi business, and Fives was prowling around outside, too._ _

__She just needed a minute to close her eyes and rest. Just a minute. Artooey would wake her up if any of them needed anything..._ _

__+++_ _

__Snips came awake with a whistle-cry of pain and awfulness, as everything distorted around her again. However, the whistle was quickly answered by a beep series that her brain recognized as none other than Artooey, meaning she was home, she had to be._ _

__Obi-Wan woke with the sound of his grand-padawan's cry in his ears. The noise made him sit upright -- dislodging Anakin's head from against his arm, he realized too late to catch him -- and look around. Anakin didn't wake, or even whimper, as his head thumped against the decking, and Obi-Wan winced. He was looking for the tall, dangerous woman, reaching out into the Force... and instead his eyes and reaching sense found their little padawan curling up around herself._ _

__He wriggled loose of Anakin, leaving his cloak behind, and crossed the decking between them. He stumbled once on the way, and heard the chime-chime of the _Twilight_ 's external comm, but he had her to worry about. "Ahsoka?" he murmured softly, "little one?" _ _

__Master Obi-Wan's voice tasted like honey, she decided, because it was very sweet and still likely to make her very sick right now. She curled tighter, remembered not to open her eyes, and tried to reach a hand to him._ _

__Artoo rolled back to the hatch, plugged into the external speaker, and let the person out there know he could not enter, even now._ _

__"Come on, Artoo," Fives pleaded, hand pressed against the hatch, "I heard the Commander whistle, I know I did! Please?"_ _

__Ahsoka's hand reached for him, and Obi-Wan took it gently, cautiously wrapping his fingers around hers. He wanted to try to help, but didn't have the faintest idea how to do so._ _

__[Snips will be fine,] Artoo said, even as he tried to wrap his processor around all the changing. [Upset her if she hears you before things are right.]_ _

__Obi-Wan was real and right there. Ahsoka focused on that, trying to make the sounds stop tasting like things, and to settle back into herself quickly._ _

__"Am I when I belong to?" she asked, voice hurting her, but she needed to know._ _

__"Yes, little one," Obi-Wan told her quietly, "you are. Or at least, the elder-you is gone and you are back. Shh. You're safely home."_ _

__"Blast it," Fives growled, "why've you got to be right? You're sure, Artoo?"_ _

__[Yes. Guard. Out when best!] Artoo fussed at him, before rolling off. Of course he was right; he had logic!_ _

__"I'm going to sleep then, Master, so this stops hurting," she whispered, willing herself toward unconsciousness._ _

__"Good," Obi-Wan told her, and freed his hand to get the blanket her elder-self must have laid over him for her, instead. Later would be soon enough to compare what she had learned with Fulcrum's words._ _

__+++_ _

__The place Fulcrum existed in had the taste of Mortis in the back of her throat, and she could feel the swirl of the Force around her, beckoning her to surrender to it. Her world, that which she had known, was being unmade, but she was the Daughter's vessel and would continue, so long as the Light held strong._ _

**Author's Note:**

> How do they unravel the future that made Fulcrum? We'd be glad to see your ideas from this point, as the main intent of this was to only show the Ahsoka-swap.


End file.
